Beauty and the brain - Investigating the neural and musical attributes of beauty during naturalistic music listening.

Beauty judgments are common in daily life, but rarely studied in cognitive neuroscience. Here, in three studies, we searched for the neural mechanisms of musical beauty using a naturalistic free-listening paradigm applied to behavioral and neuroimaging recordings and validated by experts' judgments. In Study 1, 30 adults continuously rated the perceived beauty of three musical pieces using a motion sensor.

The neural representation of self, close, and famous others: An electrophysiological investigation on the social brain.

It is well established that the Self has a unique representation in the social brain, as evident from the Self-Referential Effect (SRE). However, the timing and neural mechanisms underlying the representation of individuals with varying degrees of closeness and emotional relevance to the Self remain unclear. Twenty-two participants read 260 personality traits and decided whether they described themselves, a close friend, or an admired celebrity.

Neural signatures of imaginary motivational states: desire for music, movement and social play.

The literature has demonstrated the potential for detecting accurate electrical signals that correspond to the will or intention to move, as well as decoding the thoughts of individuals who imagine houses, faces or objects. This investigation examines the presence of precise neural markers of imagined motivational states through the combining of electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods. 20 participants were instructed to vividly imagine the desire to move, listen to music or engage in social activities.